NSK Bearings Save Costs For Carbon-Fibre Producer
NSK 's SpaceA range of bearings has solved a problem of premature failures of stainless-steel bearings used in the manufacture of carbon graphite and composite materials for aerospace applications. Operating in a solution of ammonium bicarbonate, the stainless-steel bearings were failing after about six weeks; however, the SpaceA replacements have been operating for eight-months without problems, providing significant savings for the manufacturer. The SpaceA bearings are situated at both ends of five rollers, over which the carbon-fibre material passes in a surface-treatment process before being submersed in the bath of ammonium bicarbonate. This is an arduous application for bearings, as illustrated by the fact that the 10 stainless-steel 6205 bearings that were used previously were failing and requiring replacement every six weeks. In addition, analysts calculated that the frequent replacement was costing far too much in lost production time. Keen to remove these costs and improv...